This invention relates to a tool and die identification system, and to a procedure employing such a system, for identifying tools and/or dies of machine tools and especially of punch presses.
A system of the general type and a corresponding procedure have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,014 which is directed to a turret-type punch press in which dies, interchangeably mountable in the tool holder of the punching station, are provided with markings at their upper end in the form of permanent, nonremovable bar codes. In a state of the art system, the bar code is read by a bar code scanner positioned next to the punch press, and serving to scan the bar codes on the dies mounted in the tool holder of the punching station. In the case of dies in a conventional turret-type punch press it is relatively difficult to scan the bar codes due to space constraints within the punching station, apart from necessarily requiring a particular, fixed alignment between the dies in the tool holder of the machine and the position of the bar code scanner.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for facile identification of tools and dies used in machine tools.
It is also an object to provide a novel assembly of scanning elements and identification elements which is simple and relatively economical.
It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects may be readily attained in an identification system for identifying and correctly installing the tools and/or dies in machine tools. The system multiple sets of tools and dies each having at least one unique identification marking, a scanning device for scanning the markings, and an evaluation unit for analyzing the identification markings. The markings of the tools and dies are detachably mounted thereon, and, upon detachment from their associated tools and dies, the markings are accessible to the scanning device for the scanning process.
Generally, the markings for the tools and dies are provided by removable labels, and they are attached to their respective tools and dies by a supporting, detachable mounting element in one embodiment. The tools and dies are at least partly magnetic, and the markings of the tools and dies include holding magnets.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tools and dies with their associated markings can be positioned in holders, and the markings on the tools and dies can be selectively and removably attached to one of the group consisting of the associated tools, dies, holders, and, when attached to the respective holder or holders, they are accessible to the scanning device for the scanning process.
Multiple holders accommodate individual sets of tools and dies, and a marking is allocated to each such holder and is readable by the scanning device. The evaluation unit functions to correlate the scanned markings on the tools and dies and the scanned markings on the holders.
The markings on the holders represent the spatial location of the latter in a magazine, and the markings of the holders are attached thereto in a removable fashion.
The markings of the tools and dies and/or the markings of the holders are attachable or attached to a defined point on the respective holder. Desirably, the markings of the tools and dies and/or the markings of the holders are attached to the respective holder with a defined orientation.
In one embodiment, the markings of the tools and dies and the markings of the holders are attached to the respective holder at cooperatively configured defined locations and with a defined orientation. These cooperatively configured locations for the placement of the markings of the tools and dies and of the markings of the holders are provided by cooperating inner and outer contours on the respective holder and on the markings
If so desired, the tools and dies and/or the respective holders are provided in addition to the markings that can be attached to them in removable fashion, with nonremovable markings with the same information content.
The system provides a method for identifying and correctly installing the tools and dies in a machine tool in which a set of tools is detachably mounted. Multiple sets of tools and dies are provided with at least one unique identification marking. The markings are scanned with a scanning device, and the scanned data is processed in an evaluation unit to analyze the identification markings. The markings on the tools and dies are detachably mounted thereon, and, upon detachment from their associated tools and dies, the markings are accessible to the scanning device for the scanning process. The evaluation device is provided by the computer control system for the machine tool. The computerized control system of the machine tool stores data in the scanned markings of the tools and dies and the scanned markings on associated holders.
The data stored in the computerized control system of the machine tool from the scanned markings on the associated tools and dies and from the scanned markings of the associated holders may be modified.
By providing data in the markings which are useful in varying the operation of the machine tool, the processing step can include the step of controlling the operation of the machine tool (21) as a function of the result of the evaluation of such markings.
As can be readily appreciated, the system of the present invention accomplishes the goals by employing tool and die markings which are detachably mounted on the tools and dies concerned so that these markings, being detachable from their associated tools and dies, can be made readily accessible for scanning.
The features of this invention permit substantially simplified tool and die identification especially in the case of tool components such as punch press dies which, when installed in the processing station, are either not accessible to a scanner or accessible with great difficulty only. The concept of this invention using markings detachable from their respective tools and dies also offers the possibility of keeping the markings at a distance from the processing station during the operation of the machine where otherwise the markings would inevitably be exposed to undesirable effects such as soiling or mechanical wear. Moreover, the invention makes it possible to assign comprehensive markings even to tools and dies which would be too small for holding a fixed identifying label; a case in point would be punch pins. Existing tools and dies can be easily retrofitted with detachable markings per this invention. Accordingly, the system of this invention can just as easily replace existing, less effective tool and die identifying and/or management systems.
Adhesive paper labels can be created by the machine operator and provided with bar codes directly at the job site to adapt to local tool management requirements. In lieu of such paper labels, it is possible to mount on the tools and dies for instance screw-on and/or clip-on markers. Besides bar codes, microchips may be suitable information carriers as well.
The use in this invention of markings equipped with separate mountings offers the advantage of significant flexibility of the entire system in that one and the same mounting can accommodate a combination of interchangeable markings. The mountings are designed in such fashion that they allow the positioning of the markings next to their associated tools and dies while also permitting good access for scanning. Suitable holders include tool cartridges or processing station tool mounts.
The tools and dies can be identified jointly with the holders supporting them. Such a design of the system in this invention is primarily aimed at applications in which a plurality of holders is, or is to be, equipped with interchangeable tools or dies. For the purpose especially of centralized tool management, this permits determination, at any time, of which tool or die is currently mounted in which holder.
The markings may themselves be of different designs. For example, the markings of the tool or die mountings may be contained in spatial alignment inside a magazine. In an automated holder retrieval system, the spatial alignment mentioned may be determined by the movement of a gripper as it retrieves a given holder from the appropriate magazine.
The holder markings are provided on the holders proper. These holder markings are preferably detachable as well. This concept makes it possible in simple fashion to also interchange the holder markings in adaptation to the requirements of the application at hand.
For situations where, perhaps after uncontrolled removal, markings cannot easily be associated with the tools or dies concerned. In addition to the detachable markings with which the tools can be equipped, they can also bear non-detachable markings containing the same information. This feature makes it possible in a case where the markings are in disarray to unambiguously reassociate them with their respective tools and dies and/or holders.
The system of this invention serves not only to identify tools and dies, but it also allows integration into the computerized control circuitry of the associated machine tool. In the operation of the machine tool, such integration offers numerous advantages especially when the data relating to the scanned tools and dies and/or holders are stored in the computerized controller of the machine tool and are even modifiable. For example, when the computerized controller of a punch press stores data on the punches and dies which are interchangeable in the processing station of the machine, including their diameters as well as the diameters of the die openings, the computer control offers the possibility of verifying whether the punch and die combination the operator intends to install in the processing station of the machine tool is in fact compatibly combinable. This ensures correct tool and die selection. The computerized controller can even be programmed in such fashion that the machine will start only if and when the diameter of the identified punch is compatible with that of the identified die.